Chapter 142: Ah Feng, long time no see

In Donghuang, atop Yujing Mountain.

Heaven and earth's spiritual qi flows out from the mountain's spiritual veins, then is blown onto the summit by the cool mountain breeze.

An unnamed old tree's spiritual root has silently taken hold here since time immemorial.

As the spiritual qi drifts on the wind, the old tree's branches and leaves sway gently……

"…I think I still have to walk the path of my previous life."

Under the tree, the purple-robed old Daoist excitedly offered plans to the visitor.

"Fellow Daoist, I'd like to ask a question."

Obviously impossible!

Therefore, Hongjun could inadvertently stir up a rift between himself and his "other self," and theoretically, he could also provoke internal conflict among the Three Ancestors.

Hongjun stared, thought hard for a moment, then could only shake his head:

Just by spouting nonsense, Hongjun triggered the information foundation between himself and his "other self," namely the command strategy.

After two strategies in a row yielded no real effect, one wonders just how reliable this person is……

While Hongjun's elder-heart overflowed, trying to advise this little bird not to be so extreme in nature, Jiaoming suddenly froze:

"Sow discord?"

Jiaoming pondered and asked.

Upon hearing this, Hongjun immediately laughed:

"Those three have long been mixed together; how could we possibly drive a wedge between them?"

Jiaoming's smile gradually grew intense.

How then should we sow discord? What should we sow discord over?

This is not only because the barbarian beasts lack intelligence, but also because their worldviews differ; the innately divine never regard themselves as the same kind as other living beings, and even if they gain wisdom, they must still consider themselves inferior!

Only he, Hongjun the old Daoist, believes that "the Dao values life," and thus extends protection to ordinary beings, which is why, in the eyes of all the innately divine, he has always been an oddity.

Therefore, he should provide a piece of news about attaining the Dao—this news must be hard to verify, and if it were true, it would affect the attainment of the Dao……

The difficulty is said to be high, yet also said to be low.

He suddenly understood why his "other self" had been so emotionally shattered before Jiaoming's death—who wouldn't be……

So could he also do the same to the Three Ancestors?

Likewise, give them an unverifiable, unconfirmed piece of obscure information, and this information must strike at the fundamental interests of the united Three Ancestors……

The more Jiaoming thought, the clearer it became:

What, then, is the fundamental interest among the Three Ancestors?

Or, among the three old friends who could agree to jointly attain the Dao, what else could be stirred up?!

"I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you, Fellow Daoist, to help me put on a show."

"It probably can't be done……"

Pa!

He clapped his hands, and Jiaoming gave a slight smile:

"All right! From today onward, only one Dao-attainer can be born in Honghuang!"

Hongjun's provocation consisted of unilateral obscure information; having no evidence, he outright rejected the strategy put forward by his "other self."

It all depends on whether the trust among the three has reached that level!

"Fellow Daoist, your news has no basis or evidence, I'm afraid……"

He couldn't help but be excited, after all, hearing that he would indirectly attain the Dao in the future—if that doesn't excite him, what would?

"Impossible!"

"Ah?"

A flash of light crossed Jiaoming's eyes as he suddenly turned to Hongjun and asked:

Hongjun blinked, then suddenly realized:

Even so, despite their closeness, Hongjun, an outsider, could still sow doubt in him about his "other self" with just a few words!

Could the relationship of interests and intimacy among the Three Ancestors really be this high?

But the little bird named Jiaoming before him actually did just that—even in a bright situation, he still chose to actively sacrifice himself……

Clear-minded Jiaoming quickly reached a conclusion:

"Who are you?"

"I have a way to gain their trust……"

Soon afterward, Zu Feng, who had been silently cultivating in the Great Volcano of Nanhuang, was greeted with a bewildered expression by two unexpected guests:

One was the renowned Hongjun the old man, famed for his exceedingly high moral character; the other was a small bird he had carefully escorted here.

Moreover, as to whether Honghuang can be refined three times, they themselves often get confused, so their ability to keep the pact is probably just a fluke among flukes.

"You intend to use this to drive a wedge between them!"

The bird looks ordinary, just a common little firebird, yet Zu Feng somehow sensed it possessed spiritual intelligence—this is truly strange!

After hearing his analysis, Jiaoming, who hadn't cared much to begin with, lost all interest completely.

And the purpose of his false news was to destroy that slender thread of trust that was already a matter of extreme chance……

Just thinking about how, after defeating the Three Ancestors in the future, he would become the pioneer of a new era in a blaze of light, Hongjun felt a twinge of emotion……

Thinking back to the previous two lives, it was obvious that the Three Ancestors personally battling each other would be the quickest solution, so why did they wait until Rahu had pushed the pressure to the limit in the final stage of the great war before they finally stepped onto the battlefield?

Because the three simply didn't trust each other that much……

Amid Hongjun's curiosity as a teacher who likes to instruct, Jiaoming asked:

"Can heaven and earth be refined successively by different people? Can multiple Dao-attainers be born in succession?"

"Dao friend, what do you think of sowing discord?"

After questioning for a while, Jiao Ming suddenly froze:

Wait a moment!

Jiao Ming seemed to have caught hold of something, and his vision grew brighter and brighter:

"That… is impossible, right?"

Since there is no evidence and no verification process, what he provides is… false information, or rather, unverifiable, hard-to-verify unknown information!

Hongjun suddenly became interested:

Jiao Ming couldn't help but begin to question this strategy from the heart:

No, the Three Ancestors, this ancient small clique, have long been on friendly terms; as an outsider, what right do I have to sow discord?

"I don't know, because no one has ever refined the Primordial Chaos…"

Undoubtedly, it is attaining the Dao!

Moreover, doubts arose in his heart toward his other self:

Thus Jiao Ming thought it over and decided to ask Hongjun for advice along this line; this old Daoist could at least serve as an external brain…

Why? Because once the chain of suspicion is formed, their joint foundation is destroyed!

In the face of information whose truth is unknown and which one dares not verify, the Three Ancestors' pact to jointly attain the Dao is automatically annulled.

This…

But even for oneself, it is absolutely impossible to voluntarily sacrifice one's life for the Myriad Spirits.

"Huh?"

Hongjun shook his head:

"Their interests have already been divided; when it comes to the fundamental interest of attaining the Dao, no amount of sowing discord can move them, and other conflicts of interest are secondary, not enough to cause genuine internal strife…"

Hongjun couldn't help but voice his opinion, after all, once this news is suddenly released, the Three Ancestors will surely become suspicious, suspecting that someone is deliberately sowing discord, which would instead prematurely make enemies.

The relationship between oneself and one's other self is not shallow; after all, the reason one can undergo three rounds of rebirth lies in the innate divine ability granted by that other self.

"Huh? What's the problem? You ask."

Hongjun shook his head with difficulty:

"Then I'll release this news first; do they still dare to let the other two attain the Dao first?"

Just listening, Hongjun felt somewhat moved, for in the ages of the Primordial Chaos, innate divinity has never been capable of benevolence toward ordinary savage beasts.

"No problem!"

Faced with this "reborn one," Hongjun's earlier slight doubts have completely vanished, both because no one in this world could possibly know so much, and because of the future that Jiao Ming spoke of:

The Shared Ancestor of Myriad Spirits, at the cost of its life, forcibly slew the Three Ancestors, exerting every effort to drag the already deviated historical line back onto the proper course…

Anyway, after Hongjun finished listening, he was truly moved, and he genuinely wanted to spew splendid words!

"Dao friend, what do you think? Is this information enough to break the foundation of their alliance?"

I haven't even activated my bloodline to awaken the spirit yet; where do you get your spiritual intellect?

Basically, one can say that everything about oneself is bound up with one's other self.

This is somewhat of a mental issue!

However, doubts are doubts, but this is after all a strategy issued by one's other self; no matter how unfeasible it looks, one must still give it a try, anyway, with the option to restart as a safety net, the chance for trial and error is essentially infinite.

From this aspect, it once caused oneself to distrust one's other self…

Jiao Ming raised an eyebrow:

Hongjun frowned, pondered for a moment, but the more he thought, the more he frowned, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead:

"This cannot be verified… unless someone first attains the Dao and tries it…"

Acting? My acting skills should be decent, after all you said I could perform a double act with Luo Hu in my past life, so I'm practically a top-tier actor…

……

Of course, none of this has happened yet; starting to pop the champagne now is really premature.

The Five-Colored Tail Feather Ancestor Phoenix gazed blankly at the little bird, but upon seeing the bird's sorrowful expression, it immediately cried out in the authentic Phoenix language of the "Old Great Volcano Banner," a sound warm and nostalgic:

"Ah Phoenix, long time no see…"

Ancestor Phoenix:???

……

(End of chapter)